A splashy sunset bathes the mountains in a soft radiance; the light of a full moon dances on the surface of a rippling river: these are the images of grace in the natural world. Grace is not the all-powerful force, nor the essential or fundamental thing. Grace is moonlight on water, not sunlight at noon. Yet through grace we bring artistic expression into the world, and enhance the beauty of our lives.
In the performing arts, grace often arises from adherence to form: the dancer becoming the form of the dance, the musician giving life to the form of a musical score. In human affairs in general, grace is aligned closely with form -- with mastery of aesthetic and cultural forms honed by time and honored by tradition. Through appreciation of graceful forms in human culture we apprehend the pure beauty of the ideal, of life raised above the mere struggle for survival.
